New Zealand’s economic engine is spluttering

Jacinda Ardern’s Government needs to wake up and respond to collapsing business confidence, with news that business confidence in Auckland plummeted a further 25 per cent in the last quarter, National’s Finance spokesperson Paul Goldsmith says.

“Sixty percent of the mostly small and medium businesses surveyed felt the business situation in New Zealand would deteriorate over the next six months, while just nine per cent believed it would improve.

“This is a real disappointment. Our economy should be running on all cylinders but it’s spluttering instead. The signs aren’t great when confidence is so low in this country’s economic engine.

“It’s amazing that the Government continues to be so dismissive of business confidence when it has nosedived to depths not seen since the Global Finance Crisis. Business investment has fallen from five per cent a year under National to just 0.6 per cent under Labour.

“Confidence has taken a hit because the Government keeps adding costs to businesses. Its working groups and left-field decisions, like the ban on new oil and gas exploration, has created massive uncertainty.

“It has also shown the business sector nothing but incompetence, most famously with KiwiBuild.

“National will restore confidence and revive our economy so that we can lift our aspirations, both in what we can earn and in what social challenges we can overcome.”

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